The sleeping nude appears to be dreaming of the man in the trees in the sketch above her.

At this stage of his career Davies had reverted to the symbolist idiom of his pre-cubist years; The Dream is a good example of the sorts of impressionistic drawings Davies was famous for circa 1900 – so famous in fact that he was generally regarded as the most eminent figure in American art. He was called upon by other artists (including Walt Kuhn and Jerome Myers) to lend his name and prominence to the New York Armory Show in 1913, and Davies was able to help make the show a success due to his familiarity with European modernism, and his influence in the international art world. After the Show he experimented with cubism, with mixed success, and then began again to work in a symbolist mode, as exemplified by The Dream.